Jan 8, 2013

Picadillo, a flavorful Cuban dish made with ground beef and a sauce made from simmering tomatoes, green olives, bell peppers, cumin, and spices is one of my family's favorite weeknight meals.

Trust me on this one, if you want a recipe the whole family will love, this is it! I grew up on this dish and my friends used to love eating over when my mom made it for dinner. This was probably one of the first recipes I ever learned how to cook and I make it at least once a month, although usually on the stove. (stove top version here) It's inexpensive, kid-friendly, freezer friendly and gluten-free.

I knew this would adapt nicely for the slow cooker, and I was right! In fact, I think it's even better since the lean beef cooks longer and becomes very tender the longer it simmers.

This makes a lot, so you'll get several meals out of it. We serve it
over brown rice, we make tacos with the leftovers, and I am going to
post a second recipe using the leftovers. Don't you love a recipe that
can serve as two different meals!

Anytime you use ground beef in the crock pot, you'll need to brown it first on the stove. Since the skillet is already out, I threw the onions, peppers and garlic in with the meat to let the flavors bloom.

If you want to prep this the night before, the meat is fully cooked, so you can add all the ingredients into the crock pot, then refrigerate. The next morning plug it in and go to work, or go on with your day. When you come home, you'll just have to make some rice and a salad and dinner is ready!

By the way, lean beef is the meat of choice for this dish in my house, but you can also use lean bison or ground turkey if desired. Raisins are commonly added to this dish, but we prefer this without.

Brown meat in a large deep skillet on medium-high heat; season with generously with salt and a little pepper. Use a wooden spoon to break the meat up into small pieces. When meat is no longer pink, drain all the liquid from pan. Add the onions, garlic and bell peppers to the meat and cook an addition 3-4 minutes.

Transfer the meat to the slow cooker, then add tomato, cilantro, tomato sauce, 1 1/4 cups water, alcaparrado (or olives) [I usually add some of the brine from the jar for added flavor] then add the spices.

Set slow cooker to HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8. After it's ready, taste for salt and add more as needed [I added a little more cumin and garlic powder at the end as well since the crock pot tends to mute the flavors of herbs and spices]. Discard the bay leaves and serve over brown rice.

Makes about 5 3/4 cups.

Serve this with 3/4 cups brown rice for an 8 point meal and a salad on the side.

This is one of the first dishes I ever learned how to cook and I wouldn't use pickle relish because it has a completely different taste profile. If you want to leave out the olives, I would instead just use capers and some of the brine. Hope this helps.

Am I the only person who really hates having to cook the food before adding it to the crockpot? I know it helps with the flavor, but for me the appeal of a crockpot is not having to get out a pan and dirty multiple dishes, but to be able to throw everything in at once and forget about it. That said, this looks delicious. But since I'd have to get a pan out anyway to make it, I would definitely just make the stovetop version. Thanks for posting so many delicious, healthy recipes!

I hear your pain!!! So I just ordered a new slow cooker spent all of my Christmas money on it but since I use my slow cooker once a week so I think it is worth it (my old one is about to give out)! I ordered Cuisinart Multicooker but there is also the Ninja that does the same!

How can I print recipes without the 2 or 3 paragraphs of text that accompany them. The problem is that I print so many recipes because everything is so good that my book is running out of room. Thanks!!!!

I was thinking (I made it last night) that if I hadn't had cilantro in the house, the dish would not have missed it. It's such a small amount anyway I wouldn't bother buying a bunch just to use a tiny bit. Parsley would be a nice substitute tho

I have heard that some Crockpot brands do not recommend taking the stone insert directly from the fridge to to the crock (or they will crack from temp change), so if you prep it the day before you might want to keep that in mind! :) I can't wait to try this recipe though!

I make your stove top version of this receipe all the time. I use boca crumbles to make it vegetarian and make them into empanadas. Like all your receipes my family loves it. I recently brought the empanadas to a party. They were a huge hit and everyone was shocked when I told them I made them because no one believed they were vegetarian.

Wow! I don't view it as people are complaining. People mention that the dish looks delicious but perhaps there is an ingredient that they don't care for and would appreciate a suggestion for a possible substitution. Even Gina mentions the dish is typically made with raisins but she chooses to leave them out in this dish due to preference. I don't see any issue with modifying a dish to personal taste and definitely don't view that as complaining!

Agreed. I don't understand why people dislike olives and peppers. This recipe had me at "olives" and "cilantro".

I do understand the cilantro thing though and asking if parsley is a decent substitute. For a lot of people, cilantro tastes like soap and it has nothing to do them just NOT liking cilantro, it actually is a genetic thing (related to taste buds.)

Picadillo is one of my favorite Cuban dishes but I haven't found one that substitutes well with ground turkey. I can't wait to try yours! <3 BTW...I'm not a fan of the raisins, either. I always omit them or pick them out. ;-)

OMGosh...I am so excited for this recipe. I was born and raised in Miami Florida surrounded by wonderful Cuban friends and was always a fan of Cuban cooking. I moved to Utah where there is plenty of Mexican cooking but we both know they are NOT the same thing. I can't wait to make this. Thank you!!!

I'm Cuban and I always make picadillo on the stovetop, thanks Gina for this recipe on the slow cooker!

About browning the beef, what I like about browning it first on a pan is that I hate a lumpy picadillo, so I throughly un-lump (is that a word?lol) first with a fork. More labour-intensive but that's the way I like it.

We never added cilantro to picadillo back in Cuba, but well if it works, it works! I don't add it to mine. A shame that some people do not like raisins because the raisins really make the dish.

Oh and if you can buy some cuban "vino seco" (a cooking wine, a popular brand is Edmundo vino seco) then we are reaaaally talking. Many Cuban dishes require a bit of vino seco, like our arroz con pollo ;)

The BEST recipe ever! I also make it without raisins (can't stand it)and I also get different meals like you out of it including tacos. Don't know if you're going to be posting the other meal I make out of it is empanadas. Love this versatile recipe and the crockpot version DOES work as you said it makes the meat tender. Love your site...

Thank you Gina, I too am a big fan of Picadillo. I grew up on a similiar dish, but I love the addition of the briny bite of the green olives and I ALWAYS add some of the brine as well. It makes this dish. And you're right, it is delicious used as a leftover in other applications. One of my favs is baked in a crust like an Empanada. Muy Delicioso!!

Being Cuban, I grew up on this dish. I make this at least once a week but I never thought of making it in a crock pot..thanks Gina! I made this for dinner last night and leftovers can be anything from empanadas to tacos but tonight I am making my boys favorite... I will be tossing it with some marinara sauce into some whole wheat pasta (without the olives and red pepper) YUM!!!

I am trying this with whole pork chops (I really needed to use them up tonight). We will see how it comes out. I browned them first and threw them in the pot, then added everything else according to the recipe. Hopefully the chops will cook down until super tender and everything will blend well. That's what I am hoping for anyway. When I have some ground beef I will try it again!

One of my friends from Puerto Rico served Picadillo from a mini crock pot with hearty corn chips at her recent party. It made a delicious appetizer! (She used Frito Scoops) Can't wait to try your recipe Gina. Thanks!

I made this last night for dinner and my whole family loved it. I had ground turkey and only one pound of it so I used that but added black beans so that it would go a little further for my family of 6. It was so super duper! Thanks Gina :-)

Made this for dinner last night - yum! I adjusted the recipe a little bit based on picadillo I've made before - added raisins, allspice, and cinnamon. We also just used capers because olives are one of the few no-no's for my beau. Can't wait to see what you do with the leftovers! I might make these: http://yellebellyboo.blogspot.com/2011/09/picadillo-filled-eggplant-boats.html

Hi Gina- my kitchen smelled so yummy this afternoon while the dish was cooking in the crockpot. This was my first time making this dish so I didn't know what to expect? I used one package of lean ground turkey which wasn't enough meat for the dish but it was all that I had on hand. However I filled the difference with a can of corn. I would definitely add more spices if you're using turkey, but otherwise YUMMY!! Thanks.

Hi Gina,I'm Cuban and when I saw the word Picadillo, I had to stop by and put up a post. If you want to go another level, we add raisins. And to cut the seasoning s down, we use Sazon, by Goya! It makes a world of difference. With that said, please keep the recipes comin.Thanks,Ben from www.crockpotking.com

I think this dish looks great. Seems like a great freezer meal. Cook the meat mixture, dump in the spices and tomato sauce. Freeze half and prepare half.... Then when you want a supper fast supper just dump the bag of frozen ingredients in the crockpot and turn it on... You can even make your rice and freeze it. Just let it thaw in the fridge and then zap it in the microwave. I will have to try this. I don't care for olives but I think my kids might like them. Thanks Gina!

I forgot the dried cilantro but I had already started it thinking that I had the right thing, which was sofreto, when I noticed what I really needed I asked neighbors nobody had it so I used the red cilantro and tomato packet (2) so I hope it turns out..thats the only thing missing. I've been waiting for 3 days to make this! I will let you know but I'm sure it will be good. Thanks for all the yummy recipes Gina, I made your white and chocolate cloud cookies, omg they were sooo good, the bad part was I couldn't eat just one!! :)

I picked up the ingredients that I didn't have on hand to make it today. Of course, I didn't get a chance to prep the night before like I wanted to. I did want to ask. I have 2 lbs of lean ground beef. Do you think the portions of remaining ingredients can stay the same, like the tomato sauce or could there be too much liquid in the dish? I'm getting ready this prepped now so I can have a tasty dinner!

I can count the number of foods I don't like on one hand - olives and capers are both on the list. I added some diced jalapeños and the juice and it turned out wonderfully! I'm sure it altered the flavour profile a bit, but it was still delicious which is all that matters =) Thanks Gina, for another great recipe!

I actually MADE this and trust me I have the two pickiest eaters out there - in fact I have started to document what we eat in hopes of turning our unhealthy eating habits around as a family so thank you for the tip, I'll revist for more!!

We were given elk meat. Does anyone know if it will taste and cook the same in this? We were told you can't tell a difference but I've only ever had elk steaks and I could (they were good, but you could tell a difference).

I made this Sunday on the stovetop and let it simmer for a few hours. I used manzanilla olives stuffed with pimento and added some capers to make 1/4 cup. Served it over brown rice. My three children, ages 15, 14, and 4, and my husband and I really enjoyed it! The kids removed the olives but there are so few in the recipe that it wasn't a big deal. We used the leftovers on Monday for tacos and taco salads. Great way to get two meals out of one effort!

Made this last week, so good. May try it with the raisins next time. Love your recipes, my daughter found the website in October and I've been using it several times a week ever since. Our entire Christmas dinner was made using skinnytaste, including the dessert. I complain at all of the steps to making these recipes, but, without the work, the food would not taste as good as it does. 4 kids, ages 7 to 20 and all love the food. Can't wait for the cookbook!

I make lots of things from your site and my husband wanted me to come and comment on this to let you know how much he loved it. I thought he wouldn't like, but he did! My two year old wouldn't stop eating it! Thanks for all your wonderful recipes, I talk about you non stop to people! Can't wait for the cookbook!

Made this two nights ago and was a huge hit! I have class on Tuesday nights so I made this for my husband to feed himself and my 5 year old. My 5 year old even had seconds he loved it so much! I think next time I would up the amount of cumin though, I think it needed a little more. But definitely delicious!

Hi Gina!Just curious why ground beef needs to brown before using the crock pot. Is it a sanitary issue or is best for the type of meat. I just cooked ground beef with spaghetti sauce the other day and it came out fine. The meat was even frozen when i put it on the crock pot. No one got sick :)I base my weekly menu on your recipes, love them! Thank you!

It does cook as a lump of meat but i usually poke it with a fork and i use a potato smasher minutes before we serve and it works. Im glad to know im not breaking a big rule in cooking or something like that. Thanks for your reply!

I made this for my husband and I last night and we loved it! We're very excited to try the 'Stuffed Peppers' with the leftover 'Picadillo' tonight! I'm so happy that I stumbled upon your blog. Your recipes are amazing and SO many to choose from!

My husband is Celiac and Prediabetic. I've been cooking GF for over 9 years and have been cooking healthy and low fat for over 20 years (since our daughter was 2).

I've been cooking this way long enough that I can now take most recipes and make them GF and healthy. I'm always excited to prove that Gluten Free and Low Fat/Carb can really taste good!

I just wanted to say "Thank You!" for your recipes. I made this one yesterday and my boyfriend loved it. I had gastric bypass surgery in August and your recipes have helped me enjoy foods that I wouldn't normally be able to enjoy. I need to stick to everything I put in my body being under 10g fat and 10g of sugar. I have made the mozzarella sticks, breaded zucchini, chicken nuggets, stuffed pepper soup (sans rice for me) and am looking forward to cooking many more dishes. Thanks again.

This was soooo good! We couldn't find the olive mix, but I had capers and we bought green olives. We don't like olives normally, but they cook down so nicely in this dish and add such a lovely flavor. Wonderful as leftovers as well!

Tried this last night as the snow began here in NJ....delish!! As other have mentioned, it is a personal preference but next time, I will omit the cilantro altogether, the cumin was more than enough for me. May try throwing raisins in, after reading the sweet/salty comments. I LIKE when people add their preferences; if you don't agree, then find one you do agree with and try it. Gina,you are a doll, please keep up the fab work. Thanks!

I'm so grateful for this site. I've made 3 meals so far and have gotten so many compliments from my fam and co-workers. This is the first recipe I attempted and it tasted as good as it looked! Thanks again!